Methodology

To generate our list, we ranked 40 of the largest continental U.S. metropolitan statistical areas in seven different categories: coolness, cost of living alone, culture, job growth, online dating participation, nightlife and the ratio of singles to the entire population of the metro. Each metro was assigned a ranking of 1 to 40 in each category, based on quantitative data, and all categories were weighted equally. The ranks were then totaled to determine the final rankings. A metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographic entity defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics. The rankings for each measured category appear below; for a complete explanation of the methodology, click here.

Sources: Community and Economic Research and Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Moody's Economy.com, Harris Interactive, AOL City Guide and the U.S. Census Bureau, Match.com, AOL City Guide and the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau